Jos Buttler Parts Ways with Rajasthan Royals for 2025 IPL

Jos Buttler will leave Rajasthan Royals for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, as the team chose not to retain him ahead of the Mega Auction. Buttler, 34 has played for the Royals since 2018 but under current retention rules, franchises can keep only up to six players from the previous season with a cap of five international players. Notably, franchises retained no England players leaving prominent players like Phil Salt, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer open for the auction.

In addition to Jos Buttler, Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who last season became the IPL’s highest-paid player with a ₹24.75 crore (£2.3m) contract will also re-enter the auction after Kolkata Knight Riders opted not to retain him. South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen secured the highest retention with Sunrisers Hyderabad keeping him for ₹23 crore (£2.1m).

Other notable overseas retentions include Australia captain Pat Cummins, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and West Indies players Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell. Among the retained Indian stars, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will stay with their respective franchises. Key Indian players including KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj will enter the IPL auction.

They will join prominent overseas players such as Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Anrich Nortje, David Miller and Quinton de Kock. MS Dhoni, now 43 will continue with Chennai Super Kings as an uncapped player, thanks to a recent rule change. Although IPL officials have yet to confirm the auction date, it is expected to take place in late November with the tournament typically held in April and May.